Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh has covered a
multitude of subjects in his career so far, from sex, lies and
videotape to one womans fight against a large corporation
to the Pan-American drug trade to the ins and outs of pulling
off a major casino heist. But this is the first time hes
left the planet. Solaris is a re-working (it cant
exactly be called a remake) of Andrei Tarkovskys
1972 Russian sci-fi film Solyaris, which itself was based
on the 1961 book by Polish author Stanislaw Lem, and was supposed
to be Tarkovskys answer to Kubricks 2001: A Space
Odyssey. While Soderbergh has adapted Lems text himself,
reportedly altering the storys focus somewhat, he is said
to have remained more faithful to the book than the Russian director,
whose masterful but famously slow 3-hour adaptation was apparently
hated by the author. Its still too early to tell whether
Lem will like this version, but its certainly representative
of Soderberghs style, his restless camera swooping continuously
through scenes, characters, settings, and focal lengths with a
minimum of cuts, but its also clearly influenced by Kubrick.
With its cold silences, facial close-ups, and eerily beautiful
musical choices, no one who has seen 2001 could deny the
similarities in style and tone. Starring George Clooney and Natascha
McElhone, it tells the story of a psychologist who travels to
a distant planet to investigate the curious behavior of a space
stations crew, only to become involved in his own struggle
with reality.

Although no indication is given of date, one can only presume
that this story takes place some time in the future, since most
of the action occurs on a space station orbiting a planet outside
the Solar System. This planet, a tranquil-looking mass of blue,
green, and purple oceans undulating with what look like electro-magnetic
waves or storms, is called Solaris, and although it seems quiet
and peaceful, it harbors an unfathomable secret from the occupants
of the spindle-shaped station hovering above its tumultuous surface.
When Dr. Chris Kelvin (Clooney) arrives, he learns that mission
commander Gibarian (Ulrich Tukur) has committed suicide, and the
remaining crew members, Dr. Helen Gordon (Viola Davis) and a technician
named Snow (Jeremy Davies), are reticent to explain whats
been happening. But its not long before Chris gets his own
demonstration when he is joined in his quarters by the living,
breathing incarnation of his deceased wife Rheya (McElhone), who
killed herself several years ago after an argument with him. At
first unable to accept this new version of Rheya into his heart,
Chris is swept away by memories of their affair and his regret
over losing her. While he is trying to wrestle with this issue,
it becomes clear that the station is drifting inexorably toward
the planet, caught in its increasing gravitational grasp. They
must get out of there soonbut what to do about Rheya?

In addition to the surface plot regarding Chriss perplexing
experience with Rheya, this film delves into much deeper questions,
including the existence of God, the possibility and nature of
extraterrestrial life, and how humans interact with each other
in the face of events that change their lifelong beliefs. In other
words, the same kind of things that are dealt with in 2001.
Its interesting to note that although Kubricks film
was produced first, the novel 2001: A Space Odyssey by
Arthur C. Clarke was written in 1968, after Lems
novel. (Clarke aficionados will argue that he wrote The
Sentinel, the short story upon which 2001 was based,
in 1948, but I daresay the philosophical issues were not addressed
to the extent that they were in the novel and the film.) Whether
Clarke was influenced by Lem, or Lem by Clarke, or Soderberg by
Kubrick, this film is a thoughtful and troubling excavation into
the depths of human nature. Clooney, who while filming this movie
was reportedly also working overtime on his directorial debut
film Confessions
Of A Dangerous Mind, looks hollow-eyed and exhausted,
but is certainly able to reach the emotional extremes necessary
for the part, something he has not had the opportunity to do in
most of his other film roles. McElhone is elegant both as her
human self (in flashback scenes) and the slightly different character
of her Solaris-inspired replication.

Any fan of 2001: A Space Odyssey will want to give Soderberghs
Solaris a look. It offers the same ponderous philosophy
as that film, as well as the same brilliant visual effects, the
same sterile atmosphere, and the same unanswered and unanswerable
questions. But it may not be for sci-fi fans who crave Star
Wars-like adventures or Alien-esque thrills. You have
to be willing to think. ****½